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Calligraphy Guideline Calculator

Set your nib width and the nib-width ratios you want to write at, and get the guideline heights, baseline spacing and slant offset in millimetres.

millimetres across the writing edge; pointed nibs are often under 1 mm
in nib widths; broad-edge hands are often set at 3 to 5
in nib widths, measured up from the body line
in nib widths, for j, g, p, q and y
in nib widths between the descender line and the next ascender line
degrees your uprights lean forward; 0 draws upright guides
Enter a nib width and your ratios to see the guideline heights.

Heights are your nib width multiplied by your own nib-width ratios: the body is the nib width times the body ratio, the ascender and descender are the same nib width times their ratios, and the band from ascender line to descender line is the sum of the three. Baseline spacing is that band plus the gap. The slant run is height times the tangent of the slant angle, and the slope line reads 1 to that tangent, so a 45 degree slant is 1 to 1 and a 15 degree slant is about 1 to 3.73. Slant is how far letter stems lean from vertical; it is not the angle of the nib's edge. Pointed nibs vary in width along the stroke, so for those treat the figure as a starting body height rather than a nib multiple. Everything runs in your browser with no storage, uploads or network access.